Refrigerator.



Patented May H500.

E. J. WRFS. REFFHGERATOR.

on filed Aug. X4, 1899.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

EDWARD J. WIRES, ou sr. Louis, MISSOURI.

REFRIGERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 648,823, dated May'l, 1900.

Application filed August 14, 1899.

13e it known that I, EDWARD J. WIRES, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

lily invention relates particularly to large permanent refrigerators of the class usually employed for cold-storage purposes.'

The objects of my invention are to arrange an ice-receptacle in the refrigerator in such a position that the warmer air, in rising in the structure, will pass around the ice within said receptacle and be cooled by coming in contact with said icc, todo awayT with and remove all odors arising from the -goods placed in the storage-room, and, further, to arrange drip-plates, drain-pans, and a trough for carrying off the melted ice.

To the above purposes my invention con sists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter specified and claimed.

fliignre I is a vertical sectional View,r taken approximately through the center of a refrigerator of my improved construction. Fig. 1I is a vertical sectional view taken approximately on the indicated line H Il of Fig. I. Fig. II is a detail perspective view ol' one of a series of triangular blocks to which is secured the d ri p-plateslbel'ow the icc-receptacle. liig. l\` isa detail perspective view of a section of one of the drain-pans.made use of in carrying ont my invention.

ltet'crring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, l indicates a structure having double walls, and Iixed to the inside l'aces of the front and rea r inner wallsat points slightly above the center in the height of the structure are lthe traiisversely-arrauged timbers 2, the same being for the purpose ol` sustaining the longitudireilly-extending timbers or joists 3. Thesey lioisls 25 are arranged at equal distances apart, and all of said joists are slightly inclined, owing to the elevation of their rear ends, which is accomplished by locating a strip a on top ol' the timber 2 that is fixed to the rear wall.

lleld between the joists i at peints approximately midway between their ends are the Serial No. 727,160. (No model vertically-arranged blocks 5, vand laid upon the joists 23 and extending froinsaid .blocks to a' line adjacent the rearl ends of saidjoists is a iiooriug G, the same being overlaid with suitable sheet-metal covering v'7.l Inclined pieces S extend from the lower ends of the blocks 5 to the rear ends of. thefioo'ring 6,-

thus inclosing the dead-air space 6 in ,the corners formed by the meeting of the forward end of the flooring G and the upper ends of the blocks 5.

'llhe dead-air space inclosed by the inclined pieces 8, the blocks 5, andthe flooring 6 serves as a protection vfor the ice resting upon the flooring G to prevent the. warm air from the storage room or chamber-- coming in directcontact with said flooring,

and thereby causing the ice resting upon 'the ooring to melt rapidly, While'the'l incline d S serve to direct the warml air 'up-v pieces wardlyto circulate into the ice-chamber. The

forward ends of the jois'ts 3-are united bythe-y blocks il, similar to the blocks 5, yand strips 10' are positioned upon the top edge of said blocks 9 and upon the tops of the joists in front of the flooring G in order tobring the .top edges of said blocks and `joistslon a line with the 4 top of said flooring. l. The sheet-metal covering?- is extended over the strips 10 on the joists and blocks 9, said sheet-metal covering heilig extended downwai-dl y andpinwardly between all of said joists to formthe inclined drip-plates 1l, the same being fixed upon 'triangulanblocks 12, that are held iii-any suitable manner tothe upper portions of thesides'of the j'oists and faces of 4the blocks 5 and 9,

Removably arranged in the spaces between the joists 3 beneath lthe inclined drip-plate 11 are the drain-pans 13, the.' same bein-g Vconstructed, preferably, of sheet metal or wood frame metal-covered, which pans are' slightly smaller each Way-than are the spaces 3',which they occupy, and. said pans necessarily occup \Y the sanne inclined. position as-doth'e joists Drain-pipesj'lei extend downwardly from the forward cnds'ofthe paus 13all of which Y pipes discharge into a 'drain-trough 15, preferably of sheet metal or wood; frame metal.

covered, said 'trough being slightly inclined and resting at its ends upon blocks 15, fixed in the end walls of the structure.'

A discharge-pipe it: lead-strom the lower end of this trough outwardly through the refrigeraior-vrall.

Extending across the rear end loi" the ooring G isv a strip 17, against which the lower end of an ice-rack 18 is supported, the upper end oi' said rack resting;` against a strip lil, secured to the top or ceiling of the refrigeraton. The lower portion of lthis rack is constructed with an air and moisture prooi' wall 21.), the ,upper portion boing slattcd, An inclined partition 2l cuts oil? the dead-air space 2l in front of the siattcd portieri of this rack, which space is formed by "the meeting of the iop orceiling et' t ie refrigerator'with the wall thereof.

Ordinary slattcd ice-racks sim ilar to the racks 1S, without the wall. 20, are positioned against the end walls ot thercfrigcrator, also against the side wall opposite from the rack 18, and the space ioetween seid racks is occupied hy the supply of ice, the same resting directly upon the lloorinr C and shee'ometalcovered joists 3i. The air circulating from fthe storage-room passes upwardly between lthe rear ends oi' the joisis 3, in iront of the closed lower portion of the rack 18,' through the flue libere the joists, and from thence through the open upper portion of said rack into the -ioochaxnbeiz' 'lhe air after being cooled by its passage over and between the pieces oi' ice passes downwardly over thc dripplates ll and from thence through the spaces between the drain-paus Iil and joists 3 to the storage-chamber. This circulation oi. air7 as described, and indicated by the arrows in Ii and il, is produced without vcntilaiion or the introduction of outside air, and all the moist air containing odors arising` from 'the articles in thc storagerooin is condensed hy contact with the ice, which condensation is carried oit with the drainage resulting from the melted ice, rlhis drainage passes downwardly over the drii'rplatcs i l into the drainpans 13,1hencc through the pipes lit into the trough i5, and i'rom thence out through the discharge-pipe li. ri'hus hy my improved gcoi'istruetiou all the air on the interior of the. refrigerator is cooled, a stationary tempera# 'ture is main tained, and a great saving ol icc is cilectcd All. the ined parte of said re- 'trigerator with which the icc and water come in Contact are 1neial-corered in order to pre vent decoy.

`. My 'improved structure maybe made in scctions for the larger rei.' i i s forcold-storage warehouses, so as to oe portable and easily handled while heingsliipped er placed in position, and the supporting beams or timbers for the structure may be placed in positinnafter allfthecther work on the walls of`Y the refrigerator or eoldbeen finished.

By my improved structure there is an increased capacity of the ice-chamber, there being a loss of space on but one 'side of said chamber, Said space performing the function 0E an air flue or duct, thus proportionately storage house has "increasing the cooling` capacity of the refrigerator and also red ucing the number of operations required in refilling the ice-chamber. The icc-chamber besides providing a bearing for the ice formsa receptacle for the dripping from pipes when ,the refrigerator or cold-storage house is being operated by the refrigerator-machine and also provides 'for a perfect circulation ofpall the air within the refrigerator, and said air is dried and purified in its passage through the ice-chamber and storage-room. The air in its circulation follows its natural inclinationthat is, of the-cold der side of said receptacle hy reason of the inclined pieces 8.

l claim as my invention- A refrigeratorcomprising double walls, the transverse timbers secured to the front and rear walls respectively, the strip located on the l'ront timber, the series of iosts supported in inclined position on the lront and rear ICO ti others, the intermediate blocks between thc ioisis providing front airspaces, the flooring laid on the rear ends oi the joists and on the intermediate blocks, the front blocks .uniting thc front ends of the joists, the strip surmounting the front blocks, thc ,slicetnnctal covering extendingr over the ilooringand pro-- riding inclined drip-plates within the i'ront air-spaces between the ,ioists, the draiu-pans located in the air-spaces beneath the dripplates, having drain-pipes, thei-rough located beneath the drain-pipes and having agdischarge-pipeVthe lower and upper strips,'the 

